Flexible, lightweight sheet goods, such as composite honeycomb panels, are widely used in a variety of applications in the aerospace industry to create enclosures, containers, boxes, and other structural elements useful on modern aircraft. For example, these panels can be used to create the overhead luggage bins found on today's passenger aircraft.
Single unitary panels made of such materials are usually bent into a desired shape. Typically, composite honeycomb panels are routed with a groove and then bent along the groove. Before bending the panel, the groove is filled with adhesive which forms a structural joint when the panel is bent into the desired shape. This technique is known as “ditch and pot” or “bend and fold.” The groove that allows the panel to bend, however, creates a large void for adhesive to reside. The size of this void is more than necessary to create a strong joint. For example, on average, the glue in a 48 inch long 90° joint in a ½ inch panel will weigh 0.38 pounds. This technique of creating joints can thus add up to substantial excess weight across an entire airplane.